On May 30, 2002, John B. Keane, author, raconteur, and much-loved Kerryman, passed away. Keane, at 73, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994. The author of 18 plays and 32 works of prose and poetry, including Big Maggie, which played on Broadway in 1982, and The Field, which was made into an award-winning movie starring Richard Harris Keane captured the soul of rural … [Read more...] about John B. Keane Remembered
Author
Out of Albany
William Kennedy, known as the author who captured Albany, New York, talks to Tom Deignan. ℘℘℘ William Kennedy is telling a story about his father that could very well be a haunting moment from any one of his seven "Albany cycle" novels. "My father's father came from Tipperary," the novelist, 74, says over an Irish breakfast in Fitzpatrick's mid-town Manhattan hotel. Kennedy's … [Read more...] about Out of Albany
Chapter & Hearse
"For twelve long years I've suffered this damned cat.../ though more than once I've threatened violence/ the brick and burlap in the river recompense/ for mounds of furballs littering the house." – "Grimalkin" "Grimalkin," Tom Lynch informs me, "is dead." I couldn't help it, I had to know. The cat lasted almost eight years after the poem was written. "I had told … [Read more...] about Chapter & Hearse
The Letters of Oscar Wilde
One of Oscar Wilde's wishes was that he be talked about 100 years after his death. Well, his wish has been granted. November 30 marked the centenary of the writer's passing at the age of 46. To commemorate this anniversary, his grandson Merlin Holland in conjunction with the late Rupert Hart-Davis has published The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, spanning his years as a … [Read more...] about The Letters of Oscar Wilde
Book Reviews: The McCourt Family Chronicles
MEMOIR Malachy McCourt's new memoir Singing My Him Song picks up where his best-seller A Monk Swimming left off. As the old saying goes, you'll laugh and you'll cry, right along with Malachy, as we follow the actor/raconteur from Hollywood to Broadway, as he boozes, befriends famous men, and bucks the system. In his latest book, there's plenty of partying with … [Read more...] about Book Reviews: The McCourt Family Chronicles